


Restless Nights

by Dinoswords



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Claire/Leon, Cleon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Leon/Claire, Oneshot, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Post-Resident Evil 2, Post-Resident Evil 4, Pre-Resident Evil 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 01:11:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18272753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dinoswords/pseuds/Dinoswords
Summary: Leon is left with nightmares from Raccoon City, and he calls up the only person he knows can help.





	Restless Nights

Leon woke in a cold sweat, staring at the ceiling. He jolted upright in bed, sucking in air as quickly as his burning lungs would allow, trembling hands gripping his head in frustration.

Dammit. God damn it all. Not again.

The nightmares had plagued him for years. Ever since Raccoon City, they’d become a normalcy, his head a slaughterhouse. Visions of the mutilated corpses shambling towards him, rotting arms outstretched, decaying teeth gnashing with the ravenous hunger for flesh. He could hear their cries, see the people they used to be. The lives they lost, futures that never dawned…Some nights, if he was especially unfortunate, he couldn’t escape them. Their iron grips would close around him, nails digging in flesh and teeth ripping into his neck. Hordes of them, tackling him to the ground, rendering him helpless in a swift motion as they piled onto him.

They were all the same. Even now, after returning home after the Los Illuminados, the differences were minor. Saddler sometimes found his way among the crowds. Sometimes the cultists would work their way in, heckling their fucked up prayers. Sometimes instead of Raccoon City, he was in the desert. But no matter what, there was always an ungodly amount of death. Of pain.

Misery that he’d failed to stop.

Usually, the nightmares came in phases. He’d have them a few nights in a row, then settle back down into a somewhat normal sleeping pattern. But this time around, they seemed especially persistent. Tonight made the 6th time in a week.

Was a good night’s sleep too much to ask?

He was starting to think that maybe it was.

Rubbing his face, Leon slung his legs over the side of the bed, feet hitting the carpet below. He glanced at the cell on his bedside table, but ignored it as he trudged into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. He returned shortly after filling the glass from the tap, and found himself eyeing it again.

He sipped from his glass, set it on a coaster, then grabbed his phone, flipping it open.

God. What was he doing? It was 3:30 in the morning, for fuck’s sake.

And yet, his fingers started to dial. They moved by memory alone, dialling a number he’d called so often he was sure he’d still remember it in 20 years.

He put the phone to his ear as it rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Leon bit his lip. He hadn’t expected anyone to answer, really, but was disappointed nonetheless-

“Hello?”

Holy shit.

When Claire’s tired voice came through the phone, Leon could have cried.

“Leon? Are you there?”

He snapped into reality, stumbling over his words. “Y-yeah. Yeah, I’m…I’m here, Claire. Uh.” Fuck. What was he supposed to say? He swallowed. “It…It’s been awhile.” He spoke softly, internally cursing at himself. That definitely _wasn’t_ what he was supposed to say.

“Uh…yeah. It has been.” Claire yawned, “But why are you calling me at,” she paused, “almost four in the morning?”

He ran his fingers through his dusty blonde hair. Asking for help was just on the tip of his tongue, yet it was a battle to force it past his lips. Instead, he managed, “Well…you know.”

“I don’t, actually.”

A solid retaliation.

Leon sucked in a breath, furrowing his brows and squeezing his eyes shut. He blurted out, “It’s nightmares, Claire. I just…they won’t stop. Ever since Raccoon…it…it just…” he fumbled, swallowing, face growing hot as embarrassment made his chest tight. Jesus, he was such a mess. He pushed through it, unable to stop, “…feels like it’s following me. Everywhere I go, on every mission they send me on, it’s all I can think about. I see those people and I feel like-like I failed them. Like it’s my fault, somehow. Everything’s been so _hard_ and I just-” He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t even be bothering you with this, especially since we haven’t talked-”

She interrupted him. Her voice was so gentle, tears welled up in his eyes. “It’s okay, Leon. I was there too, you know.”

He sniffed. “Right. Yeah. I-I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’t be. Talk to me. Something happen?”

“I mean…got sent to Europe to save the president’s daughter. Simple mission turned horror show by a crazy cult. The usual.” He tried to keep it light and compose himself, but failed. He sighed, putting a hand over his eyes as he furrowed his brows. “…It was awful, Claire. They weren’t brainwashed, not like cults usually are. It was this fucking…parasite. Injected into all of them, and it made them into monsters. Slaves to an evil, greedy piece of shit. They didn’t even have a choice…”

“Jesus, Leon…”

He shook his head. “I hate it. I couldn’t save any of them. I know they were all far gone by the time I got there, but still…none of them deserved any of that. No one who gets wrapped up in this shit does. I just wish I could do more to help. Even back in Raccoon, I couldn’t save anyone. Marvin, that man and his daughter, hell, even _Annette_! I try and try, but it never works. I barely even got _Ashley_ out of that cult alive.” His head hung low, a lump forming in his throat. “People are so evil sometimes. One bad person can hurt so many good people.” He sniffed. “I just wanted to help people.”

She was quiet for a little bit, and anxiety started to grip the pit of his stomach. He’d said too much. He knew it. Just as the apology started finding its way on his tongue, Claire spoke again.

“You saved _me_ , Leon.”

“Wha-”

“In Raccoon City. At the gas station. If you hadn’t showed up, I would’ve been a goner.” When he said nothing, she continued, “And our promise to get out of that together. We did, Leon. We made it out and we’ll be okay.” She stumbled a little, “But, uh, my point is that you do help people. I know because I’m one of them. All this bioterror bullshit takes a lot of lives, yeah, but you’re still out there trying to save people from it after all these years. After Raccoon City, a lot of people would never want to see that stuff for the rest of their _lives_. But you took that as a motivator to give it your all in stopping it from happening again. That’s really brave of you.” She paused. Her words already had his heart soft and eyes brimming with tears, but her next statement caused a few of them to fall despite himself.

“Leon, you’re a great guy, and honestly, I’m glad it was you I ran into in that hellhole. You can’t save everyone, but you’ll be damned if you don’t at least try. That by itself, just _being yourself_ , helps more than you think.”

“I…” He sniffed, wiping his eyes. “Thanks, Claire. That means the world.”

“Hey, no problem. You ever need another reminder, just let me know, okay?”

He smiled. “Yeah, sure.”

“But hey, you were right earlier. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen each other. I dunno about you, but I already know I’ll need a pick me up in the morning from this.”

Leon couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, sounds about right.”

“So…maybe you could join me, get some coffee. It’ll be fun, we can play catch up. Whaddya say?”

He didn’t even have to think about it. “Sounds great. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay? Get some rest.”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay. You too.” He hesitated. “And Claire?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad it was you at the gas station, too.” He could’ve gone on, elaborating on just how happy he was that they were friends, but decided to save it for tomorrow.

He bid her goodnight and hung up, plugging his phone back in and finishing off his water, leaving his glass on the table and settling back under his covers. Tomorrow, he could properly thank Claire for being there for him with a hug and insisting he pay for her coffee, though he knew she’d argue.

For the first time in awhile, he found himself excited for the morning to come.


End file.
